Aggression caused by crack cocaine forces Limerick pharmacists to quit needle exchange programme 

Drugs and Alcohol Forum responds after councillor highlights fall in the number of pharmacies offering needle exchange

The comments came in response to questions from Conor Sheehan, a Labour Party councillor on Limerick City and County Council. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Limerick pharmacists are pulling out of the national needle exchange programme due to aggression caused by crack cocaine use, a council meeting has heard.

Philomena Carroll, a development worker with the Midwest Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum, also warned members of a Limerick City and County Council SPC that the region's crack cocaine problem was not “fizzling out".